City of Bones
by ThunderStorm18
Summary: This is a 1 shot based on the book and the movie. It really happens after City of Bones. I've added a character, her name is Natalie. I'm totally for JacexClary and IsabellexSimon, Natalie has unbalanced emotions between Alec & Magnus. Now if you loved Alec & Magnus together, don't read this. If you were unsettled by the homosexualism. No hating, please, you've had fair warning.
1. Chapter 1

Nat pressed into the corner of the alley, something was wrong with the guy who had been following her. He had shifted into something out of this world. Nat clutched at the cross necklace around her neck, her mother would say she was going crazy. Just up the fire escape and she would be in her mom's apartment. Nat took a deep breath and leapt up the rusty metal, it squeaked. It seemed as if the creature following her had stopped. Nat hurried up to the living room window, inside it looked like her mother had answered the door for someone and she had been pushed aside. Nat knelt by her mom, she was crumpled and still. Nat stood and wrapped her mom's rosary around her wrist.

"Hello, Darling."

Nat turned around to see a man in a kitchen chair. "Who are you?" Nat fingered some pepper spray hooked on her belt loop.

The man smiled grimly. "That won't help you. Sit down and have a cup of tea."

Nat kept her eyes on the man and slowly sat down.

"Tell me about your father."

"Why?" Nat folded her hands on the table and ignored the tea.

"It'll keep your mother alive."

Nat turned and looked at her mom. "He died when I was four from a gang battle in the slums of New York City." Nat looked at the man; he glanced at her cup of tea. "I can't drink anything when I have to go to the bathroom."

A frown passed briefly over the man's face. He waved his hand and Nat went into the bathroom. She slipped out the window down the fire escape. On the street she sprinted for the nearest telephone booth. She stepped inside and dialed. "Hello, this is 911. What's your emergency?"

"There's been a break in."

"May I have the address?"

Nat rattled off the address, as she spoke she looked out the glass panes of the booth. There in the distance was a large building that looked older than all the other buildings. Deep within her she felt a yearning for it. She hung up once she was done with the address and she started to walk toward the building. It had beautiful towers and there was a greenhouse at the top of the building.

Nat stood at the gates, it looked old and she wondered if she should be there.

"What are you doing here?"

Nat turned around to see four teens, a dark haired boy and a light haired boy with tattoos. There were two girls, a brunette and an auburn haired girl. "I felt drawn to it." Nat fingered the bottle at her side.

"I don't trust her." The dark haired boy said to his companions.

"You don't trust any girls." The brunette girl said. "Who are you?"

"My name's Nat."

The dark haired boy snorted. "Is that short for Natalie?"

"Don't call me that." Nat wrinkled her nose.

"She can't be Mundane, she can see us." The blonde boy said.

"What's Mundane?" Nat crossed her arms.

"Let's discus this inside, the Mundanes can only see her." The auburn haired girl stepped toward the gate. The blonde boy opened the gate and let them all in, the dark haired boy was deadly silent as he walked by. Nat slipped inside as she looked over her shoulder and saw the man from her kitchen turn the corner.

"Someone following you?"

Nat looked at the blonde as he locked the gate. "I'm not sure."

"She'll get us all killed." The dark haired boy grumbled as he went inside the building.

"That's what you said about Clary." The brunette followed him inside. Nat followed her with the other two behind Nat.

"I'll take her to Hodge." The brunette dropped back to walk next to Nat. She led Nat away from the others. "I'm Isabelle. The other girl is Clary. The boys are Jace and Alec."

"Why is that guy like that?"

"You must mean Alec, he's my brother."

"Oh."

"We're the only shadowhunters around, it's a hard job."

"What are shadowhunters?" Nat stopped as Isabelle opened a door.

"Hodge is in there, he's a bit eccentric."

Nat walked through the door, she heard it close behind her. She walked down the stairs and looked at the different display cases and leafed through some books. "Shadowhunters have been keeping humans safe from demons since the crusades." Nat jumped and turned around to see an older man. "What's your name?"

"Nat."

"Nat, what can you tell me about your father?"

"Why?" Nat followed the man, who she supposed was Hodge, with her eyes as he walked about the room.

"Shadowhunters were created when men drank the blood of an angel from the mortal cup." Hodge stopped at a painting of the scene he told of. "To be a shadowhunter, you have to drink from the cup or be born of one."

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Your mother or your father must have been one."

Nat let out a short bark of laughter. "My mother was a strict catholic."

"Shadowhunters work with all religions." Nat's brow creased in confusion as she watched Hodge finger a few things. "What about your father?"

"He died when I was four."

"Where?"

"Here, in NYC."

"Doing what?"

"He was in a gang fight."

Hodge let out a chuckle. "Dear, most likely he was fighting demons and died."

Nat frowned and scanned the room her gaze landed on the actual cup from the painting.

"Is that the mortal cup?"

"Yes."

Nat reached out and traced the rim of the cup with her finger. She felt an electrical shock start in her finger and work its way through her body. She looked up at Hodge and saw that he was enveloped in a pale yellow fog. "Fear." She said to herself, but Hodge looked at her.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, do I get to have some sleep tonight?"

"Yes, Isabelle will show you to your room."

The door opened and Isabelle stuck her head in. "Are you ready to go to your room?"

"Uh, yeah." Nat followed Isabelle out the door and down the hall. She saw Alec coming and she watched him curiously as he passed. A purple mist wavered around him. "Anger." Nat muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Isabelle stopped in the hall and turned toward Nat.

"I think I saw anger coming off of Alec."

"Well Clary has a gift, you could too." Isabelle continued down the hall. "What do you see around me?"

"Calm, it's like a blue fog rising from around your feet."

"It's good to have you here, especially since you're a girl." Isabelle opened a door. "Here's your room, I left some clothes for you so you can change in the morning."

"Thanks." Nat stepped into the room, she heard the door click shut behind her. She yawned and pulled back the covers of the bed. She looked under the bed and checked the mattress. She then pushed a chair into the far corner and settled into it for the night with a pillow and a blanket.

.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows and washed the corners with light. Nat woke and stretched, she looked at the clothes that Isabelle had left her. "They're all black." She held up a pair of black jeans and a black jacket. She saw a dark green t-shirt, she changed into the clothes and was pulling on a pair of boots when someone knocked on the door. She began to braid her burnt orange hair over her shoulder as she walked around the bed. "Enter." She stopped at a mirror and tied off her hair. She saw Alec, Jace, Isabelle, and Clary through the mirror. "Is there something I should know about?" She walked over to a basin of water and washed her face and hands.

"We're going to hunt down some demons."

Nat turned to Isabelle.

"You should come with us." Jace tossed a blade at her, Nat's hand snaked out and caught the handle. She saw anger rising off of Alec, hope coming off of Clary, indifference coming off of Jace, and calm radiated off of Isabelle.

"You're not all in agreement. Maybe I should stay and talk with Hodge."

The other three looked at Alec, "I don't trust her. Why should I."

"Why should I trust you?" Nat draped the jacket over an arm. "By the way, I feel that it's fair to warn you all, that I see your feelings and emotions." Nat smiled slightly as Clary's aura turned yellow and Jace's indifference tinged yellow. Isabelle's stayed thick blue and Alec's turned a sickly yellow.

"Have you always been able to do this?"

"No Clary," Nat slipped on the jacket. "It started when I touched the mortal cup."

"What can you see?"

"You're indifferent; Clary is scared, which is understandable." Nat shrugged. "I'd be scared if someone could read my emotions like I can. Isabelle's is calm and Alec," Nat paused and watched as the colors flickered. She laughed and Alec's colors turned to surprise. "The color was of guilt, if you've been thinking bad thoughts of me, don't worry. I can't read your thoughts, only your emotions. You're a puzzle; first you were guilty, then angry, then surprised. Now you're angry again." Nat strapped the blade to her hip. "Maybe I will go with you, I'm not up to listening to histories." Nat followed them out of the room, down the hall and out of the building and gate.

"Daylight makes everything better." Clary tipped back her head and soaked in the rays. Nat pulled her hood up over her head and she scanned the crowd.

"That's funny."

"What?" Clary looked where Nat was looking.

"I don't see any emotions." Nat shaded her eyes with her hand. "You'd think someone would be angry at the hustle and bustle, or be grumpy at how early it is."

"Maybe you can't see Mundane emotions." Isabelle mused.

A Mundane couple walked by, a thin layer of love pulsed around their forms. Nat waited till they were out of hearing range. "Actually I can, but it's faint." Nat watched them disappear around a corner. "Could they see us?"

"You, but not us." Jace said as he took out something that looked like a stylist. "Give me your arm." Nat gave him her left arm and he began to write on her forearm. Pain flared up her arm, she watched intently.

"What are you doing?"

"Putting the invisibility rune on your arm."

"Hm." Nat took her arm back once he was done, she glanced up to see roiling black fog coming out of an alley. "Do you guys see the black fog coming out of that alley?" They looked down the street, then back at her. "I know what it is." It dawned on Nat that the black fog was where demons were. "There," she pointed at a figure that came out of the alley. "It's a white figure in the middle of a black fog."

"Demon." Alec pulled a blade free from a sheath and charged with Jace. Isabelle had a whip that wrapped around the demon's ankles and it fell. Alec and Jace finished it off.

"I'm probably going to jinx us, but…"

"Don't say it." Isabelle wrapped the whip around her wrist. "It's only the beginning."

"Clary and I will go on the roof." Jace started climbing the fire escape. "Nat, you come up too. You can see demon clouds better."

"Okay." Nat started up after Clary. "Just don't call them clouds; it makes them seem less scary."

"Fine." Jace laughed. Nat scanned the top of the building and saw an air vent with black fog coming out of it. She glanced at the door, black fog seeped out of the crack of the door.

"Ever think that this is too big of a job for you?"

"Have some faith." Jace scanned the horizon.

"There's one in the air vent and one behind the door."

Both demons burst out of their hiding places, one clashed with Jace and Clary helped him. The other charged Nat, she drew the blade that Jace had given her. The demon ducked and swatted her feet from under her. She fell backwards along the ladder alongside the building. Nat's foot caught on a rung , she jerked to a stop a few rungs above the ground. Nat heard a whip and saw the demon fall over the building. Isabelle pulled the demon, tightening the whip, Alec slammed a blade through the demon's heart. Isabelle left the demon and came to Nat, she pushed up on Nat's shoulders and helped her loosen her foot.

Standing up straight Nat watched the demon crumble to dust with a calm curiosity. Jace and Clary started to come down from the building.

"We're alright." Clary was on her phone.

"Simon called in the middle." Jace grunted as he cleaned his blade.

"Whose Simon?" Nat rubbed her left arm unconsciously.

"He's Clary's Mundane friend." Isabelle noticed that Nat's arm was bleeding. "What happened?"

Nat looked down at her arm, she still clutched the blade. "He must have clawed me before he knocked me off." Nat watched the blood drip with a fascination. She came out of her fog when the blade clattered to the ground.

"Can you walk back to the institute?"

"Sure." Nat saw Jace pick up the blade, Isabelle took Nat's arm and drew a rune on it.

.

Nat had made it back to the institute and was recovering well. At the moment she was in Isabelle's room.

"I'm not wearing that." Nat held out her arms to fend of Isabelle and backed out of the room.

"You can't go to see Magnus in your Mundane street clothes."

"Hodge can make me go see a stranger with only you and your brother, but you can't make me wear that."

"What are you trying to get her into?"

Nat turned suddenly to see Alec, "That." She gestured toward a corset and a mini skirt that Isabelle held up.

"Why don't you take her to a brothel?" Alec said sarcastically.

Nat rolled her eyes, "Just let me look through your closet."

"Fine, but you must wear this skirt." Isabelle tossed the skirt at her. Nat made a face. "It'll make me happy." Nat frowned she hated it when people said that.

Nat found a sleeveless top that had a detachable hood. She put it on and loosened her hair from the braid. She pulled the hood up and the skirt on; Nat grabbed her boots and pulled them on.

"Does this make you happy?" Nat stood in the doorway facing Isabelle and Alec, with her hands on her hips.

"Yes." Isabelle turned. "Let's go."

"I look like a hoe." Nat groaned as she walked past Alec and followed Isabelle.

"Careful, those are my clothes."

"I know you hate me Alec, but you could at least support me on this." Nat glanced back and met his glazed expression.

He shook his head. "Unfortunately I have to agree with you in this matter."

Nat turned back around. "Grit your teeth anymore and you'll have sand in your mouth."

Alec grunted and Isabelle shushed them.

.

Nat stood between Isabelle and Alec. "Shadowhunters, what are..." A man walked up to them. Nat pushed back her hood and played with a lock of hair as she waited for Isabelle to take over. "A young and pretty one finally joined you." Nat glanced up at the man.

"Nat, this is Magnus, the warlock."

"Isabelle's pretty too." Nat crossed her arms and cocked her head, daring the warlock to contradict her.

"Don't make a warlock mad." Nat heard Alec hiss in her ear.

"Of course she is a different kind of pretty. What can I do for you, young maiden?" Magnus asked them as he gave a slight bow.

"Hodge said that you blocked Clary's memories of the shadowhunter world."

"Yes, that's what her mom wanted." Magnus motioned for Nat to follow him.

"Well, we wanted to know if my mom had someone block my memories of my dad."

"What do you know about your dad?" Magnus opened a door and ushered Nat into it.

"He died when I was four." Nat sat down in a red velvet chair as Magnus sat opposite of her.

"What about your mother?"

"She died last night and she didn't have any runes like Isabelle has."

Magnus nodded and looked thoughtful; he rose and touched her temples. "There isn't a memory block. Your memories are still there."

"Can you bring them to the surface?" Nat asked as Magnus let his fingers trail down her jaw line.

"Of course, sit back and relax." Magnus turned away as Nat closed her eyes and sat in the back of the chair. Then Magnus proceeded to bring up her memories.

Nat relived her first four years quickly and in major memories. One memory struck her harder than the others. It had been the middle of the night; she had woken up and saw her father hiding something in the floorboards. The object had looked similar to the stylist that Jace had used to draw the rune on her arm. Her father had told her that he was checking for monsters and that she would be safe now.

Nat stood up and swayed, Magnus steadied her. "I've got to go, my father left me something."

"When you're done, be sure to come back and keep me up to date."

Nat nodded, turned, and left; she found Isabelle and Alec out in the crowd.

"Well, what's the verdict?" Isabelle set down a glass and gave her attention to Nat.

"I didn't have a memory block, but he brought all my memories of my father to the surface." Nat reached up and touched her cheek. "I think he hid his stele in my bedroom, a month before he died."

"We should get it for you." Isabelle started for the door.

"Hold on." Alec caught up with them and grabbed their wrists to stop them. "The place is probably filled with demons. We should get the others before we go."

Isabelle frowned, "Jace and Simon are busy and Clary is spending time with her mom."

"Don't think you can hack it?" Nat pulled her hood up and started walking toward her mom's apartment.

"I don't think you can."

"Hate to disappoint you, but I'm not a maiden in distress." Nat smiled to herself as she heard Alec and Isabelle catching up to her.

"You are not disappointing me." Alec grumped as he walked along.

"We've got to make a stop." Isabelle took the lead and they entered a church.

"Why are we here?" Nat realized that they were in the church her mother took her to all the time.

"Under the alter of every church…" Alec grunted as he moved the alter.

"Is this." Isabelle used her stele to open a hole in the floor. Isabelle and Alec loaded up. "What do you want?"

Alec gave a sound that was between a grunt and a laugh.

"Do you have anything like a switchblade?"

"Here." Isabelle tossed up two blades. Nat caught them and rotated her wrists as she snapped them open and closed. She put them on her belt and turned toward the door.

"Are we ready?" Nat glanced over her shoulder and received nods from Isabelle and Alec. Nat stepped out of the door and went down the stairs as she tied her hair back into a braid. Nat brought her chin up as she walked the streets, her step had purpose in it. No one killed her family and got away with it unscathed.

.

Nat stood at the fire escape, she had shown Isabelle and Alec the front entrance. She unattached the hood and made her way up the fire escape. She approached the living room window, it was open. She flipped open her blades and jumped in, she stabbed a demon on either side of her. They fell and turned to dust. A demon left his post at the door and charged Nat, she waited till the last moment. She stepped out of the way and dragged the spike heel down the back of the demon's leg. She pushed her arm straight back and the blade pierced the demon's back. She turned to the kitchen and a demon came out of the kitchen. He threw a blade and Nat ducked and summersaulted into the demon's feet. The demon jumped up and landed behind her. Nat spun around in a crouch position and rose to meet the demon's gaze. "Why fight me, when you could join us?" Nat walked up so she was toe to toe with him.

"I'm not sure." Nat's voice softened and she tilted her head to the side questionably. Nat's eyes grew cold as she thrust both blades into the demon and dragged them upward. "Because you killed my mother and father."

The demon raked a clawed hand over her cheek before he fell to the floor and writhed as he turned to dust. Nat wiped the black blood off onto the curtains above the kitchen sink. She was dabbing at her cut cheek with a paper towel as Alec and Isabelle slipped in.

"What happened?" Isabelle lowered her arms.

"Four demons, the first two were easy. The third one took some work. The last one left me with this." Nat pulled the paper towel away from her cheek.

"Hold still." Isabelle used her stele to burn a rune over the cuts. "Now, where did you want to look for your father's stele."

"In my bedroom."

"Here." Alec handed over a stele with a dark green gem. "I went into your room. It looked like the demons had ransacked your room."

"Thanks." Nat closed her fingers around the metal and Alec slipped his fingers away from hers. "If you don't mind, I'm going to grab some of my clothes." Nat left the kitchen and grabbed only her black, dark green, or dark blue clothes. She also grabbed various other things.

.

Nat lay on her bed, she studied her father's stele closely. She had told Isabelle and Alec everything that had happened when she was with Magnus on the way back to the institute. Nat rolled over when someone knocked on her door.

"Enter."

Isabelle came into her room, she sat done on the bed. "When are you going to see Magnus?"

"Do I have to go?"

"You don't want to make a warlock angry."

Nat looked up at Alec who was leaning against the door frame.

"Fine," Nat pushed herself off of the bed, she dug through a pile of clothes and pulled out a little black dress. Nat went behind a screen and dressed. She added an emerald droplet pendent to accent it. "I'll go if you go with me." Nat said to Isabelle as she pinned her hair up.

"I can't, I'm busy. Alec will have to go with you." Isabelle said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

.

Nat recalled everything from the previous night, but she wasn't focusing on Magnus. She watched as Alec fidgeted and glanced at Magnus with a hint of dark green tinting the underside of his anger aura. When he glanced at her, he caught her gaze and the dark green changed to red.

.

"So what are you embarrassed about?" Nat and Alec were walking away from Magnus's place.

"What do you mean?" Alec crossed his arms, Nat stayed silent as a cool breeze swept through the street and ruffled the hem of her skirt. She rubbed her arms and wrapped them around herself. Alec growled and took off his jacket. He laid it over Nat's shoulders. "You're 16 and Magnus is frozen at 20."

"What's your point?" Nat slipped her arms into the sleeves of Alec's jacket.

"You're way too young for him to be flirting with you." Alec fisted his hands and turned on her, he pushed her up against a pole.

"I thought that's what he was doing, but I wasn't sure." Nat crossed her arms and stared Alec down. "He's not that much older than me."

Alec suddenly pushed off and walked toward the institute. Nat caught up with him, and then suddenly he disappeared into an alley. He reappeared being held by a demon, a blade glittered at his throat in the dim light. Nat reached under the jacket and got her switchblades ready.

"Give those to me and your fellow shadowhunter will live for tonight."

Nat watched the demon's face closely. She handed the blades over and the demon released Alec, who collapsed to the ground from lack of air.

"Join us and he'll live for longer."

Nat shrugged out of the jacket and dropped it over Alec, "He won't keep his word."

Nat ignored Alec and she walked up to the demon with her hands in the pockets of her dress. "Join you, how?" She cocked her head and shrugged her shoulders. The demon smiled and reached out to touch her. Nat brought her hand up quickly and released her pepper spray. The demon dropped to the ground, Nat grabbed one of the fallen blades and stuck it into the demon's heart.

"He's gone Natalie."

Nat rose slowly from her crouched position. She watched the blood drip slowly off of the blade. Alec pried it from her grasp and wiped it on his jeans. Once the blood was gone, Nat came out of her trance. She turned to Alec, "I'm sorry."

Alec had picked up his jacket and he handed the blades back to Nat to put them on her belt. "For a moment I thought you were serious."

"About what?" Nat accepted the jacket back from Alec.

"About joining him."

"I bet they killed my mother and father." Nat watched Alec's expression change; his mood turned more to concern. "I'm ready to go back to the institute. I want to be back before sunset."

.

Nat sat on top of the battlements of the building, she heard Isabelle walk up behind her. "Have you ever wanted to be a normal teenager?"

"This has been my whole life, what was it like before this?" Isabelle sat down next to Nat.

"I'm not sure about guys, but girls would go to each other's houses for sleepovers. They would do each other's hair and make-up. They would play truth or dare, watch movies, and talk about boys. Clary would know."

"You talk like you've never done these things before."

"Mom was a strict catholic, I was homeschooled. The girls at church were actually really petty. I've always wanted to do those things. Mom never understood how lonely I was."

"You've always been friendly and easy to get along with."

"The girls' parents told them to stay away from me. I never understood why; they called me a child of the devil. I understand now." Nat pulled her knees up close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Isabelle brightened. "What are you thinking?" Nat watched her as she got up.

"Go to your room and wait for me." Isabelle disappeared into the institute.

Nat glanced at the setting sun and stood; she made her way to her room and settled in a window seat.

.

The door opened to Isabelle, Alec, Jace, Clary, and Simon.

"What are you all doing?" Nat sat cross legged in the window seat.

"We're here to play the game you were talking about."

"Truth or dare?"

"Yes, we're going to be normal teens for tonight." Isabelle sat down on the floor.

Simon and Clary shared a smile and Clary smiled at Nat. Nat glanced over their emotions, Isabelle was slightly excited, Clary was amused, Jace and Alec were both tolerant, and Simon was too faint for her to tell. Nat joined the circle on the floor. "Okay, who is going first?"

"I will." Clary raised her hand. "I'm going to ask Nat. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"What scares you the most?"

Nat's smile faded, she looked at the floor and took a deep breath. "What scares me most is blood, but not really the blood itself. It's how I react to it, almost as if I go into a trance. When I was little I fell on a broken vase and cut up my wrist. The day care I was at hadn't cleaned it up yet. When I saw the blood, I wanted to see more of it running out; I had no control. I ended up going to the hospital." Nat was still looking at the ground; slowly she brought her head up to meet the shocked faces of the teens. She gave a short laugh, "Though now, I'm able to control it as long as I get the blood washed away in a timely manner." Nat touched the rune on her cheek and she heard the game come back up to a bumpy start. She zoned out till she realized that everyone was silent.

Everyone was looking at Alec. "What happened?"

Isabelle sided up to her and whispered in her ear. "Jace asked Alec what girl he likes. Alec hasn't answered yet."

"It's late." Nat glanced at her watch and yawned. "I don't know how you do it." Nat stood and walked behind the screen. She heard the others get up and leave the room. Nat had to help Alec in some way, he had gone with her to Magnus, he'd given her his jacket, and he had also helped her at her mom's apartment. Even if he was a jerk most of the time, she could save him from embarrassment once. If she was keeping score, she would only have to save him once more. But she wouldn't keep score.

.

In the morning Nat went to the kitchen and poked around, she didn't see anybody. She found enough ingredients for some hotcakes. Nat was pouring honey over her hotcakes when Isabelle came into the kitchen.

"That smells heavenly. Can I have some?"

"Here." Nat offered the bowl of mix to Isabelle.

"Eh, can you cook them?"

"Sure." Nat gave Isabelle a sly smile and prepared hotcakes for Isabelle. "You might as well eat mine, I'll eat these."

"Okay." Isabelle took Nat's plate and sat down.

Clary stuck her head into the kitchen. "Can you make me some?"

"Sure." Nat smiled and handed the plate to Clary. "Does your mom want some? What about Luke?"

"I'll wait for you to make them plates." Clary stayed by the stove and breathed in the scent of the cooking hotcakes. Nat giggled as she watched Clary walk out, juggling three plates.

"Hi, Jace."

Nat looked up as Clary greeted Jace, they went around each other and Jace followed his nose to the stove. "Finally someone who can cook. You wouldn't mind cooking for us day and night?"

"Actually I would." Nat handed Jace a plate of hotcakes. "Now, go away." Nat pushed him toward the breakfast bar. Nat turned back to her skillet, she poured the last of the batter out. "Who do I have left? Me, Hodge, and Alec." Nat went around and mixed up more batter. Alec came in as she poured the new batter into the skillet. He reached from behind Nat and stole the plate of hotcakes. "Those were yours, no need to steal them."

"At least you can cook."

"Yes, my hidden talent." Nat said dryly, she flipped the last of the hotcakes onto two plates. Hodge came in and grabbed a plate.

"Thanks, I thought I smelled something good. Maybe you could cook for us more."

"I can give basic cooking lessons too." Nat said with a sly smile as she sat down to her own hotcakes.

"The little Irish girl can cook."

"Alec, is that supposed to make me annoyed?" Nat raised her head and pushed her burnt orange curls behind her ears. She blinked her hazel eyes and watched him carefully. Alec's aura flared red and he turned toward his plate, grumbling.

"Wash your own plate." Nat said as Alec got up and started to leave the kitchen, he turned back and frowned, and then he left. Nat frowned, and then she started to clean up the dishes. She started to hum as she stacked the dirty dishes and filled the sink with sudsy water. She started singing a hymn from church services. She was blowing bubbles when Alec came in, a bubble popped on her nose and then she was reliving a memory.

"_Another, another!" Nat jumped up and down on the fire escape of the apartment. She sat out there with her father. He was blowing bubbles for her to pop. She giggled when they popped by her fingers or in her hair or on her nose._

"_Remember, this. It's what love feels like."_

"You're crying?"

Nat shook her head and looked up at Alec. "Sorry." She used a towel to wipe her eyes. "Did you want something?"

"Isabelle sent me down with this." Alec let a cookbook fall onto the table.

Nat looked through it, and she glanced up at Alec. "This is slightly offending."

"How?" Alec crossed his arms and stared at her.

"That you think I need a cookbook." Nat shut the book and walked to the door. "You won't have tasted all the Irish food by the end of the month."

"_Join us."_

Nat jolted to a stop, she grew worried, and why was she remembering what the demon said.

"_They'll show you love."_ Nat shuddered at the little voice in the back of her mind. She took off at a run to her room.

"Where are you going?" Alec called after her.

"I have to see Magnus." Nat threw over her shoulder as she turned the corner.

.

Nat now lay curled up on a red velvet couch, a cup of tea steamed on the table.

Magnus walked in and sat on the couch as she sat up. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Well." Nat looked down at her hands and locked her fingers together. She felt Magnus's arm settle on the back of the couch, behind her. "Last time I left your place, a demon attacked Alec and I. It wanted me to join them." Nat paused and looked up at Magnus, his face was unreadable. "It's been bothering me, why would they want me to join them?" Nat felt Magnus move his arms so his hand rested on her shoulder.

"Demons could be looking for shadowhunters to possess their bodies."

Nat shuddered and leaned closer to Magnus.

"Is there anything else bothering you?" Magnus whispered into her ear.

"I've had some memories of my father. They were pleasant but something didn't seem right. Like he was edgy about something." Nat curled her fingers around the cup of tea.

"Time will have to tell for that."

Nat stiffened, she had wanted him to tell her something to reassure her."

"I'm not all knowing." Magnus's breath tickled her neck, the tea made her calm and sleepy. "Are you feeling alright?"

Nat felt Magnus twist a strand of her hair around his fingers. "I don't care for sweet talk." Nat resisted yawning.

"Don't worry, it's only to help you relax. I won't do anything without your permission."

Nat settled against Magnus and started to let her eyes close.

.

Nat woke with faint light filtering in through windows. She saw that she was on a couch and remembered what had happened the night before. A cat had settled on her chest and meowed irritably when Nat disturbed it. The cat lashed out at her as she pushed it off, the claws caught her cheek. Nat muttered something and she saw Magnus asleep in his bed. He woke as she started for the door, he sat up and Nat glanced back at him. She noticed that he had only slept in his boxers, she looked away quickly.

"Where are you going so early?"

"I have to go back to the institute." Nat opened the door.

"Have something to eat first."

Nat risked a glance back and saw that he was wearing a robe. "I should be getting back, I left without really telling anyone I was leaving."

"Then before you leave." Magnus pulled her close to him and kissed her, quickly. Nat watched him turn toward his bed before she knew the kiss was over. Suddenly Alec flashed into her mind, she wasn't sure why. Then she left for the institute.

It was early in the morning and Nat saw that Alec was sitting on the steps to the institute and had his head cradled in his hands.

"Alec, is something wrong?"

Alec bolted up right and stood in front of her. "I didn't know if you were alright. No one stays at Magnus's place overnight unless…" Alec trailed off.

Nat frowned and shook her head. "We talked, but nothing else happened."

"Why couldn't you talk to me, to us?"

"It was about my memories, I felt that he would be better help." Nat remembered Magnus's eyes, somehow they had made her feel safe with the way they were watchful.

"Was he?"

Nat paused, her face fell blank. "No, not really." Nat remembered his 'time will tell' statement.

"Mind talking about them now?"

"I can't." Nat shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to stand it if you threw me out of the institute."

"Why would we do that?"

Nat couldn't help a tear from falling, she squeezed her eyes shut and ran past Alec, past all the rooms, past the library, and past everything else. She stopped in the green house, she climbed a tree and huddled in the branches, and cried.

.

Nat heard someone sneeze, she froze and watched through the branches as she thought. She thought about how this place was now a home in just a few days. Because her memories were coming back she felt insecure about who her father was. Before she hadn't cared about her father, now she had memories that showed that he had loved her and yet there was something that seemed off. Regret, that was the feeling she got from her father in her memories. What had her father done to regret.

_Nat was maybe two, her father took her to a place that looked like an old hospital with crumbling walls. Nat turned her face into her father's shirt and waited till she was pried out of her father's embrace. She whimpered as she was placed on a counter and a needle was shoved into her arm. Dark red, almost black, liquid was pushed inside of her vein._

Nat let out an involuntary cry as she remembered the moment. She caught herself as she slipped and she dropped from the tree.

"Natalie, are you alright?"

Nat turned to see who had spoken her name, Alec came up to her. "Honestly, no I'm no; but to get you off my back, yes, I'm perfectly fine." Nat dusted off her jeans and winced as pain flashed through her shoulder. Her other hand grabbed her shoulder and she rubbed it.

"Here." Alec pulled her hand away and pushed back the shoulder of her shirt to draw a rune on her shoulder.

Nat felt the warm healing and she pulled away from Alec when he was finished. "Why did you follow me?"

"You've got to tell someone what's wrong. Hodge isn't the best person to talk to at the moment, Jace wouldn't be the best, Clary has too much going on, and Isabelle talks too much. I'm the best you've got." A shock of shaggy hair fell in front of his eyes, he brushed it out of the way and his eyes flashed illuminating blue. He pulled off his ratty sweatshirt and set it aside.

Nat sighed and turned away and started to walk aimlessly as she stripped her jacket, the heat in the greenhouse was getting to her. She wiped her face before she started talking. "Alright." Nat sat down next to a pool and dipped her finger into the water. "It's great to have memories of my father, at first I saw him as loving, that he was taken away from me too early. Then there seemed to be an undercurrent, like something was bothering him." Alec sat down opposite of her. "Almost as if he had done something to regret. I've also been thinking that if the Clave didn't know about me, maybe my father wasn't with the Clave. What if he was with Valentine and he began to regret that because of me?" Nat stared at the water, she felt a hand on her knee, she looked up at Alec.

"Has what the demon said been bothering you?"

"Yes." Nat felt captured by the blue eyes, they seemed different, the light filtered through the greenery and landed on the eyes. The light seemed to make them glow with warmth. "Have you told anyone?"

"No."

Nat fell silent, Alec's hand seemed to burn through the denim, Nat shifted and Alec's hand fell away.

"What made you cry out earlier?" Alec stood and hooked his fingers in his pockets.

"A memory." Nat rubbed the inside of her arm. "Is it possible that I could have been injected with demon blood?"

Alec started, he stepped toward Nat and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. "It is, but you will be alright." He came closer and hovered in front of her face, waiting for her eyes to meet his. She lifted her eyes from her feet, she


	2. Photo Reference

The picture of Natalie is from... DeviantArt: Ginger-Girl-21. (The artist's account appears to be deleted, in a way.)


End file.
